Citroen introduced the Saxo in 1996, and by the time it introduced the facelifted version, it managed to sell around half of a million of them, and that was just the beginning. The Saxo was a badge-engineered Peugeot 106, which, in turn, was based on the Citroen AX platform. In 1998, Citroen unveiled a facelifted version for the smallest member of its family. That led to a slight increase in sales over the 1997 figures. The sales fell under 100.000 units per year only in 2003, when the car was ready to leave the market and made room for its successor, the C2. At the front, the 1998 model featured different headlights with curved lines instead of the angular ones from the 1996 model. The grille sported a wider opening, like a smiling face, with the "double-chevron" chromed badge enlarged in the middle. On its sides, the carmaker replaced the black rubber-strips with body-colored ones but kept the trim level badge on the front doors. In the rear, Citroen applied the same "round-it" theme design to the taillights. Inside, the main difference was the new steering wheel with a three-spoke design and an airbag. The non-facelifted version sported a two-spoke design. Citroen didn't see any reason to change the rest of the dashboard design, which featured rounded lines and triangular-shaped vents. Under the hood, the French carmaker removed the 1.6-liter gasoline engine from the lineup and left only two gasoline and one diesel version on the offer.